NINE departed Spotland on Monday as Steve Parkin wielded the axe despite not having a deal himself.

The Dale boss, who was officially out of work after Saturdayés game at Oxford, met with 13 players hours before he went into a board meeting to discuss his own terms. Only four heard good news.

The meeting with directors, however, failed to cover Parkinés future. As Observer Sport went to press, talks were in the offing between the manager and current chairman David Kilpatrick.

"It was just a business meeting," said Kilpatrick on Monday night. "We had confirmation of the retained list and there were general discussions about budgets."

"We are in the process of finalising the managerés contract. I hope he will stay and I canét see any reason he wonét."

As for his own future, Kilpatrick said the matter would be resolved over the next few days.

"We are trying to deal with the nuts and bolts and the decision about myself will be taken over the next week," he explained. "It needs to be a board decision."

On the playing side, experienced pair Neil Edwards and Wayne Evans have a future at Spotland, as do young duo Leo Bertos and Scott Warner. Defender Greg Heald is also staying.

The biggest surprise of those departing is young centre-half Simon Grand. Striker Lee McEvilly is on his way, possibly to Accrington, while Neil Redfearn and Shaun Smith - brought in on non-contarct terms by Parkin - have also been jettisoned.

Matt Doughty, Stephen Hill, Rory Patterson and Sean McClare also depart, while injury-plagued Chris Beech leaves after managing just 28 first-team games in two seasons.

"Ités not very nice telling players they havenét got a job, but it needs to be done," said Parkin.

"I firmly believe if Iém going to be manager here the place needs a bit of a bomb up it. Decisions had to be made and Iéve had the chance to do that."

Warner, who broke into the first-team in the latter part of the season, was understandably ecstatic at his news.

"Iém delighted," he said. "I did expect it in some ways, but you never know in football."

"Ités disappointing to see lads like Simon Grand go, because I played in the youth team with him. But ités also a shame to lose Neil Redfearn because he was such a big help to me during his time at the club."

"Iéve been offered a 12-month deal," he added. "Even though ités a shorter term, ités better in some ways because you know you have to prove yourself again in that time."